Thursday, October 23, 2008

As many of my long time readers know, I attended a Catholic Elementary School. They were strict disciplinarians and taught me the need for a strong education and good behavior-citizenship. They encouraged me to read and study, even through playtimes. Our reading lists included "The Weekly Reader" and "Treasure Chest" comic books. They encouraged me to expand my mind and think about our Constitution, Civil Rights and respect the concept of "All Men Are Created Equal!"Today, during my daily research, I came across an interesting article about one of the "Treasure Chest" series written in 1964 entitled "the Pettigrew story." While this series was written in 1964, it was set 12 years in the future, during the presidential primaries of 1976. The Pettigrew story is both a civics lesson and Nancy Drew mystery. Cliffhangers end the first five parts of the six-part series. Pettigrew runs a close second in the New Hampshire primary, survives an assassination attempt and goes on to win the nomination with the energetic assistance of Joey and Angie Blatt, children of campaign press secretary Bart Blatt and his wife, Jane.Throughout the series, Pettigrew is always in the shadows, viewed from a distance, or hidden behind pillars and poles through the first five parts of the series. It is only at the conclusion, as the candidate takes center stage to accept his party’s nomination, that readers discover that the candidate is a “Negro,” a black man.This is a fascinating series. (short video of the series) What is amazing is Pettigrew looks very much like Barack Obama.

24 comments:

As the Declaration of Independence says:"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness!"

Martin Luther King said:"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

"I have a dream that one day..little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."

"I have a dream that one day ..we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day."

"This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

"And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops..from every hill.. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.And when this happens, when we allow freedom to Ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Latinos, Asians, American Indians, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

MLK didn't have a dream of us having a black president just an end to racism. His dream of the Civil Rights Era came true. That WAS decades ago. MLK didn't have dreams about a CIR either. Most blacks were and still are legally in this country.

The majority of Americans do not judge people by the color of their skin. Only those who want to keep racism alive would make such a false statement.

why do white ppl become so upset at the mere mention of MLK, I can understand why racist white ppl become angry when hearing his name but a non-racist ANY color person should look to him as an American hero and feel proud as an American.

yet somehow whenever I hear MLK discussed in a group I look to see how white ppl re-act and they look un-comfortable, and only on the internet do they show their true colors on the subject and it can get pretty ugly.

LMJ,You are right. Look at Tamara and Sandra´s reaction. They "say" MLKs dream came true decades ago. They say MLK did not dream of someday, the Presidency being open to people of all colors. They say there is no racism today.I wonder if they remember the faces of the people left stranded in New Orleans. I wonder why they live in such denial!MLKs dream is yet to come true.

"I have a dream that one day ..we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together.. to stand up for FREEDOM together, knowing that we will be free one day."

I remember being that little migrant child in 1st grade, wearing my old, 2nd hand clothes. The nun asked me to stand up in front of class and I stumbled over my words. The kids laughed and said "what do you expect. Shes a messykin."The nun put her arm around my waist and said, "some day Dee will do us all proud!"By the end of that year, I was in the top reading class and I won the Spelling Bee.

Education makes a difference. Working together in Unity makes a difference.CIR will make a difference!

The problem you and many other ANTIs have Anon is you refuse to acknowledge the history of Immigration in our country and why the 12M are here. Until you learn to let it sink in, you will remain very frustrated. You will be frustrated because you wish and hope for Mass Deportation but it will never happen.The only possible solution is a well thought out CIR plan.

from tamara: MLK's dream came true decades ago but some like to keep the 60's alive anyway so they can continue their victim status and white race hatred alive.

Decades ago?!? I've yet to meet a person of color say what you just said about MLK's dream. So, are POCs all just wanting to "keep the 60's alive" so they can continue their victimhood, so they can continue hating white people?

It's easy for white people to think that there is no more racism in the world, to just pay lip service to the dream; after all, we will soon have a black president in the White House, how can we still be racist?

How do you explain the continued segregation and re-segregation of schools? How do you explain the disproportionate number of POCs in our jails and prisons? How do you explain the healthcare disparities between whites and POCs?

Robles,I agree, however I do have hope for our future as we take baby steps toward progress and MLK´s dreams. If Obama is elected, I think this will be a giant step forward. If he fulfills his promises of improving Eduacation and Healthcare, more giant steps. If he accomplished CIR, another.I think there is hope for the world going forward.

I know of only a few white people that get upset at the mere mention of MLK. The majority do not! I am white and I certainly don't. I wouldn't mind having a black president either. Afterall they are just as human as whites are. But whoever our president might be in November or in the future, I would want them to be a leader for ALL Americans and keep race out of it.

MLK, was the type of person who opposed racism. I would think he wouldn't care what color of skin or race that any of our presidents would be. To claim that he desired a black president specifically because of their race or skin color would have gone against the racism that he fought to obliterate from our country. The presidency has always been open to people of color. We just haven't a black candidate unti now.

CIR has nothing to do with a supposed discrimination against Mexicans now or in the past. It is all about whether one is here legally or not. Race has no place in the immigration issue. The little victim stories in here about a childhood long past has nothing to do with the immigration issue either.

Our immigration policies and laws are what they are TODAY and must be respected. Immigration history does not nullify our immigration laws of TODAY nor does it have any bearing on our obligation to respect those laws on the books TODAY.

There have been several Black Candidates in the past. None have made it to the status of Obama.

Shirley Chisholm. A New York teacher elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, Chisholm unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. She did get the most convention votes for a female candidate in U.S. history.

Jesse Jackson. Jackson campaigned for the Democratic nomination twice, in 1984 and 1988. These runs secured his place as the pre-eminent black American leader of the era.

Lenora Fulani. In 1988, Fulani—a psychologist—ran as an independent and was the first black woman to appear on presidential ballots in all 50 states. She also ran in 1992.

Alan Keyes. Having served in the Reagan administration, Keyes campaigned for the Republican nomination in 1996 and 2000 (and also lost to Barack Obama in their race for a Senate seat in 2004).

I am aware of most of these Black politicans and prospective candidates for the presidency in the past. However, none had gotten on the presidential ballot until now. There have been Blacks in high office and in congress for some time now. Race and skin color should not come into play when being appointed or voted in for public office. It should be the best man or woman for the job. On the otherhand one shouldn't be discrimnated against by color or race either.

"Another piece will come true not when we are NOT judged by the color of our skin but by the content of our character"

But of course if Obama loses, it would be because of his tan, not because of his Marxist ideology coming to light.......

"I wonder if they remember the faces of the people left stranded in New Orleans."

I remember, I remember how silly it was for the Mayor to do everything in his power, it seemed anyway, to keep the poor from leaving. I remember Nagan shutting down bus service 3 days before the hurrican showed up. I remember Nagan refusing an offer from Amtrak to take evacuees out. "We offered the city the opportunity to take evacuees out of harm's way," said Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black. "The city declined."

I like to compare Dr. King to Jesus:Both good men fight against inequality with a good message, and both suffered for their ideas.But it goes deeper than that. While I love both men in their own respects, it is their 'followers' that I have an issue with. These 'followers' have twisted and perverted the message of both into a motivating tool to further some personal goals of the one invoking the names or Dr. King and Jesus.

Look how many millions have been killed in the name of Jesus, including doctors in recent years. It contradicts the message Jesus had for humanity.

Now look how many oppressive laws have been created in the name of the movement that Dr. King had started, contradicting the message that he had.You help make everyone equal by making a law that says you cannot discriminate based on race, gender, religion, etc. in regards to hiring practices. This is good.

Then they make a law establishing quotas stating that a certain percentage of employees had to be 'minorities'. This is bad.

Not to mention that these two laws are in direct contradiction of each other. If you can't hire based on race, but you don't meet the quota, then you must hire someone based on race.... How is this equality again?

Equality is about making a level playing field that everyone can play on, not railroading people into place.

Sandra,Most voters voting for Barack believe he IS the best candidate.

What MLK was saying was that color should NOT be a Negative factor. The most qualified should NOT be voted against because of the color of his skin.You must admit, there will be some of this going on!

sandra said... I am aware of most of these Black politicans and prospective candidates for the presidency in the past. However, none had gotten on the presidential ballot until now. There have been Blacks in high office and in congress for some time now. Race and skin color should not come into play when being appointed or voted in for public office. It should be the best man or woman for the job. On the otherhand one shouldn't be discrimnated against by color or race either.

"The most qualified should not be voted AGAINST because of the color of his skin."

That is precisely what I said in my last sentence. There will be those who WON'T vote for Obama because of that (race actually, not skin color) and those who WILL vote for him because of it. Either way, those two reasons are both racist.

It doesn't matter how many say they are voting for Obama based on his qualifications, there will be a certain number that will be voting for him because he is Black. There is no denying it. So no, ALL are not voting for him for the right reasons. It is just a fact of life just as there will be those who won't vote for him because of his race. Everyone knows this.

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Hello. My name is Dee. I live in Texas. I am an American. My ethnicity is Hispanic. Many would call me Mexican or Mexican American. Some call me a female, PRO-Immigration Reform - Ann Coulter.
My parents, their parents and theirs were all born in the USA.
My husband and I have been happily married for over 20 years. My husband is a big, Irish-American. We have two grown sons. We are happy and my family is doing well. I have been employed as a mid level manager at a very large, well known corporation for over 25 years, now recently retired.
In May, 2006, after the Immigration Marches, I started seeing the cable news channels talking very negatively about illegal immigration. I found many internet sites were talking negatively about legal and illegal immigration issues as well.
Since I do research on the job, I started conducting Immigration research on the web. I joined several Immigration websites and I researched others. I´ve learned so much about Immigration issues over the last year.
What you don´t see on the internet is the Mexican American perspective.
I am here to share my views with you.